Latch hook welt bar and latch opening means therefor



H. F. PAGET March 22, 1932.

LATCH HOOK WELT BAR AND LATCH OPENING MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Jan.17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR: Hivroid Elagei,

A TTORNEYS.

WITNESSES March 22, 1932. H F. PAGET 1,850,472

LATCH HOOK WELT BAR AND LATCH OPENING MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Jan.17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES l N VEN TOR:

Harald i Per 961'; 9 M 6/ TTORNEYS March 22, 1932. H. F. PAGET 1,850,472

LATCH HOOK WELT BAR AND LATCH OPENING MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Jan.17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 1;. 25 55 \lllllllL Z2 FIG. '11

I N V EN TOR: Harol a E Page;

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 22, 1932 HAROLD F. PAGET, OF EHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T HAINES HOSIEBY MILLS INQ, OF PHILADELPHQA,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF rnnnsynvam LATCH HOOK WELT BAR AND LATCHOPENING MEANS THEREFOR Application filed January 17, 1930, Serial No.421,547. Renewed August 6, 1931. J

This invention relates to latch hook welt bars for turning the weltsincident to knitting I of stocking legs on flat hosiery machines; andalso to means for opening the hook latches of such bars in preparationfor engaging the hooks with the initial course of loops on the needlesof the machine in starting the leg blanks.

Welt bars of the kind now generally em- 30 ployed, are provided withlatchless hooks; and after turning of the stocking welts, it isnecessary to swing the bar upwards and in- Wards relative tothe needlesof the machine to release the hooks from the fabric. This 35 is a veryexacting procedure, and very diflicult of accomplishment in the event ofdisalignment between the needles and welt bar hooks due to either orboth being bent or slightly misshapen. Attempts have been madeheretofore to use welt bars with latched hooks, similar to ordinarylatched knitting needles, in lieu of the plain hook variety by reason oftheir facility to closeautomatically incident to withdrawal from thefabric with obviation of the necessity for swinging the bars asaforesaid; but gained was offset by the difiiculty encountered insubsequently opening the hook latches to prepare the welt bars. forre-use.

Iy present invention is directed toward overcoming the difficulty justreferred to, through provision, on the one hand, of a; wait latches lendthemselves to ready opening, and, on the other hand, through provisionof means more particularly adapted to knitting machines, by aid of whichthe hook latches of the welt bar are simultaneously opened in readinessfor immediate application to the initial course of the fabric on theneedles of "the lmitting. machine in starting new stock:

ing legs. I

With reference to the drawings, Fig. I is a, fragmentary cross sectionalview of a flat stocking knitting machine conveniently embodyin myinvention.

Fig. [I is a. fragmentary plan view of the organization shown in Fig. I.

Figs. III, IV and V are detail sectional 50 views, on a larger scale,showing successive the advantage thus bar with latched hooks whereof thesteps incident to opening the latches of the. welt bar hooks; and,

Fig. VI is an enlarged perspective view of one of the latched welt barhooks.

Ihe knitting machines chosen for the purposes of illustration herein isof a well known commercial type designed for production of fullfashioned hosiery, one of its needle bars being indicated at 10, thecooperating sinkers at 11, the arm for moving the needle bar verticallyrelati e to said sinkers at 12, the rock shaftfor said arm at 13, and apair of the spaced cross frames which afford journal support to saidrock shaft at 14. As usual, the welt bar end guideways, designated bythe numeral 15, are rigidly secured transversely of the front bed, i.e.', the channeled longitudinal bed 16 that bridges frames l-l at thetop. Also, as usual, the machine is equipped with spaced bracket arms 17which are bolted to, and reach horizontally outward from the bed 16 andsupport a roller 18 for taking up the fabric as it is formed on theneedles of the bar 10 in-the well known manner.

The welt bar designated by the numeral 20 is, generally speaking, ofcustomary construction, except for its hooks 21, which are providedwith'swinging pivoted latches 22 that extend beyond the ends of saidhooks when in closed position, as clearly shown in the perspectiveillustration of Fig. VI. Such PI'OJBCtlOH of the latches 22 obviouslydoes not interfere with the withdrawal of the hooks 21 from the fabricloops after a stocking welt has been turned on the machine, since saidlatches will yield readily to automatic closure in a mannercharacteristic of ordinary latched knitting machine needles. For apurpose later on explained, a supplemental strip 23 is secured to thebottom of the welt bar'20 by means of screws 24, said strip beingsomewhat longer than the welt bar and extending beyond the ends of thelatter, see Fig. II. t

The means provided on the knitting machine for opening the latches 22 ofthe welt bar 20 is comprehensively designated by the numeral 25, and, asshown; comprises a latch engaging element in the form of a bar 26. Thislatch engaging bar 26 is fixedly sup- 100 ported crosswise between thewelt bar end guideways 15, and, it will be'noted, has its forward edgeacute and underbeveled as at27.

he latch opening means 25 further embodies a holder means 28 for thewelt bar 20 con,- sisting of a pair of-end members 29 which are slidablein horizontal recesses 30 at the in sides of the forwardly reaching endsof the guideways 15, said members being held in place by headed screws31 whereof the shanks extend through motion limiting slots 32 in saidguideways. At their outer ends the end members 29 of the holder means 28are provided with laterally projecting studs 34: which are engaged inbifurcations of lever handles 35 secured to a shaft 36 with journalsupport at its opposite ends in upward bearing arms 37 of the brackets17. More particularly from Figs. IIIV it will be noted that the endmembers 29 of the holder means 28 are formed withrecesses 38 that affordslightly elevated shoulders 39. i

The operation of my invention is as follows-:-As the welt bar 20 isremoved from the fabric after the turning of a stocking welt in themachine, the holder means 28 is positioned as shown in Fig. III, andsaid welt bar placed with the ends of its supplemental strip 23 engagingthe recesses 38 of the end members 29 of said holder means. welt bar 20is so placed, it will be notedthat the rear edge of the supplementalstrip 23 rests on the shoulders 39 and the ends of the hooks 21 on thelatch engaging element 26. The lever handles 35 are then moved in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. III to shift the holder means 28 outwardas far as permitted by the screw slots 32, with attendant retraction ofthe welt bar 20 relative to the latch engaging lenient-26. The motionthereby imparted is sufficient to draw the ends of the hooks 21 beyondthe forward edge. of the latch opening element 26. Consequently, thewelt bar 20 swings on. the fulcrum support'afiorded the rear edge of itssupplemental strip 23 by the shoulders 39 of the recesses 38 in the endmembers 28 of the holder means, concurrently with dropping of the hookends off the element 26, the latches 22 of the hooks 21 being. howeverdetained and partly opened incidentally, as shown in Fig. IV. In thisaction of starting the latches 22 open, the edge 27 of the member 26engages the latches 22 in the reentrant corner or angle that is affordedbetween the latches and the ends of the hooks 21 when the latches areclosed. The lever handles 35 are thereupon swung in the oppositedirection and the holder means 28 shifted inwards relative to the latch'opening element- 26 as far as permitted by the motion limiting slots 31,as shown in Fig. V Asa result of the last described movement it will benoted that the latches 22 of the welt bar hooks 21 are swung on back andfully opened. The lever handles When the 35 are finally swung counterclockwise once more to effect retraction of the welt'bar 20 relative tothe latch opening element 26 so that said welt bar can be readilyremoved without danger of the latches being'accidentally closed. Thisfinal movement has not been illustrated butcan be readily understoodfrom Fig. V.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a very simpleand efficient means whereby the latches of the welt bar books aresimultaneously opened in preparation for re-use of the welt bar at thecommencement of each new stocking blank. It is of course to beunderstood that there is a latch opening means such as describedprovided for each section of the knitting machine. v r v 1 Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim: v

1. The combinationof a welt bar having loop-engaging hooks with swinginglatches projecting beyond the hooks when closed and automaticallyclosing upon withdrawal of the hooks from engagement with fabric loops,a latch-engaging member, and means for moving the welt bar and saidmember relative to one another transversely and lengthwise of the hooks,thereby first engaging said member with the latches and starting thelatches open, and then swinging them on back ,full open, ready forloop-engagement of the hooks. I

2. The combination of a welt bar having loop-engaging hooks withswinging latches automatically closing uponwithdrawal of the hooks fromengagement with fabric loops, and when closed affording a reentrantangle between them and the ends of the hooks, an edged latch-openingmember, and means for automatically moving the welt bar and said memberrelative to one another lengthwise of the hooks, and thereby firstengaging the edge of said member with the latches in the angle betweenthem and the hooks and startin the latches open, and then swinging themon ack full open, ready for loop-engagement of the hooks. V

3. The combination of a welt bar having latched hooks; and latch openingmeans including a stationary latch engaging element, and means formoving the-welt bar relative to the element aforesaid to effect openingof the hook latches.

4. The combination of a welt-bar having latched hooks; and latch openingmeans including a stationary latch engaging element, and holder meansfor the welt bar operative to effect opening of the hook latches. by aretractive-swing of the former relative to said latch engagin element.

5/The com ination of a welt bar having hooks with pivoted latchesextending beyond the hook ends; and latch opening means including astationary element with a beveled eluding alatch engaging hook latchesand causing them to be opened incident to aretractive-downwardly-swinging movement imparted to the welt bar.

6. The combination of a welt bar having hooks with pivoted latchesextending beyond the hook ends; and latch opening means inelement, andsliding holder means, said latter means affording fulcrum support forthe welt bar along its rear edge with the ends of its hooks resting onthe element aforesaid, so that, upon retraction of the holder means, thehooks drop off the element with incidental detention and opening oftheir latches.

7. The combination in a fiat knitting'machine of a welt bar havinglatched hooks; guideways for the welt bar; and latch opening meansincluding a hatch engaging bar secured crosswise of welt bar guidewa'ys,and slidable holder means on the guideways for moving the welt barrelative to the latch engaging bar.

8. The combination in a flat knitting machine of a welt bar having hookswith pivoted latches extending beyond the hook ends;

guideways for the welt bar; and latch opening means including a latchengaging bar secured crosswise of welt bar guideways, and

slidable holder means on the guideways affording the welt bar fulcrumsupport along its rear edge with the ends of its hoo (s resting on thelatch engaging bar, so that upon retraction of the holder means, thehooks drop ofi" the latch'engaging bar with incidental detention andopening of the hook latches.

9. The combination in a flat knitting machine of a welt bar havinglatched hooks; guideways for the welt bar; and latch opening meansincluding a latch engaging bar secured crosswise of welt bar guideways,slidable holder means on the guideways for the welt bar, and anactuating hand lever coordinated with the holder means for movingthewelt bar toward and away from said engaging bar to efiect opening of thehook latches.

10. The combination in a fiat knitting machine of a welt bar havinghooks with pivoted latches extending beyond the hooked ends; guidewaysfor the welt bar; and latch opening means including a latch engaging barsecured crosswise of welt bar guideways, slidable holder means on theguideways affording the welt bariulcrum support along its rear edge withthe ends of its hooks resting on the latch opening bar, so that uponretraction of the holder means the hooks drop off the latch engaging barwith incidental detention and opening of the hook latches, and means tolimit the sliding movement of the holder means in predeterminiug theaction aforesaid.

11. The combination in a flat knitting machine of a welt bar havinghooks with pivoted latches extending beyond the hook ends;

detention and opening of the hook latches,

means to limit the sliding of theholder means in predetermining theaction aforesaid, and a hand lever for actuating the holder means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, this ninth day of January, 1930;

HAROLD F. PAGET.

